As the year draws to a close, people in the gaming industry have the opportunity to reflect on all the products released this year and decide which video game was the best of all.

While multiple websites and magazines make their own lists for game of the year, Spike TV’s Video Game Awards is the only video game awards show broadcast live on television.

While this should be the pinnacle of game recognition, it’s not.

The main problem with the show is that it caters to the mainstream and casual audience rather than the gamers, the people who ultimately decide which games are the best. In recent years, the show has brought in many celebrities that claim to play video games in order to boost ratings and cater to the casual and mainstream audience.

The only time games are widely recognized is being wasted on footage of celebrities making fools out of themselves and the video game industry.

Because of the wasted time on celebrities and the horrible skits they perform, some awards are not given during the show, but rather a small box on the corner of the TV indicates who won certain awards. This is a slap in the face to the people who worked hard on their projects; it seems their achievements are less important than a celebrity eating cupcakes off a conveyer belt.

While the show may look bad on TV, it still shines in some areas.

For example, the show has a panel of people, called the Video Game Award Voting Board, who decide which games win certain awards. I like the fact that there is panel of experts because it gives a chance to a game which is not mainstream (like Halo or Call of Duty) to win the game of the year award. While the awards are chosen by the panel, the audience gets to vote for the most anticipated game of 2013 and character of the year.

Also, the show has trailers for upcoming games. This year, viewers can expect to see trailers for Gears of War: Judgment, The Last of Us, BioShock Infinite and more. The show will also feature musical performances by Linkin Park and Tenacious D, among other artists.

Hopefully, this year’s awards are better than last year’s in terms of catering to the actual gamers and not the casual fans. The nominees for all of the awards can be seen on Spike.com.

It is always fun to see if your favorite game won the game of the year award. The show will be hosted by Samuel L. Jackson for the fourth time. The Video Game Awards will air live at 7 p.m. on Friday. You can see the show on Spike TV, and for the first time ever the show can be viewed on Xbox Live